ShareX Review & Free Download

ShareX is a very lightweight, open source, free and great screen recording app for Windows that enables you to record any part of your Windows PC screen as a video that can later be shared on various platforms. Open source programs are usually under constant development and that is what has been happening with ShareX. ShareX has seen more than 5200 commits on Github and over 150 contributors who make this tool better and better with time.

ShareX is another small-installation based software with just a little over 5MB in terms of size. Other similar functioning software goes even to hundreds of megabytes but ShareX has been maintained as minimalistic as possible. Does the small installation file bring enough features to ensure screen recording happens without much hassle? Read on to find out more in this ShareX review.

ShareX – Free Download

First Impressions

ShareX has taken a different approach to the layout of its functionalities by opting to have all the main features and options on the left-hand side. Other screen recorders have these features at the top part of the main screen.

Immediately after launching ShareX, you are presented with the currently configured hotkeys as the first thing on the main panel. ShareX avails only 5 preconfigured hotkeys with each having a description of what it does. Later on, we will be able to know whether a user has the option of adding more custom hotkeys.

For a first time user, you have to use trial and error to find out exactly what each option does especially when you have to start capturing. There is no indication whether you are recording a video or taking a snapshot.

What Can ShareX Capture?

In terms of what ShareX can let you record, everything falls under “Capture” on the main screen that includes everything to do with capturing videos or taking screenshots. Several modes are in this category as follows;

Screenshot Taking

This is what has been given priority when it comes to capturing. ShareX lets you take;

Window screenshots – Here you take screenshots of applications you have opened on your PC. For instance, ShareX will take a screenshot of a music player running or an image viewer software and leave out everything else. ShareX is able to distinguish a specific program from the rest of what is displayable on the screen.

Monitor screenshots – This comes in handy when you are using multiple screens that contain different content displayed. ShareX enables you to screenshot a specific display. You can screenshot an external display without including content on the main screen.

Region screenshots – As a user, you predetermine a specific area to screenshot by dragging the mouse to select it and immediately ShareX takes a snapshot displaying it as a preview on the main window. The region to snapshot can either be light or transparent with an option also to use the last region.

Screen Recording

Besides taking screenshots, ShareX also enables you to record the screen. The recording can either be in the form of a video or as a GIF. When you choose any of the two, you then have to just select the area you want to be recorded and you will get started immediately.

Scrolling Capture

When you have content that spans more than the screen can display, you are forced to scroll to view the rest of the content. What if you have to screenshot this as a single file to share? ShareX has the capability of taking a single snapshot of scrollable content. As you scroll, ShareX will be able to output a single file when the scrolling ends.

Webpage Capture

ShareX helps you accomplish this by providing a window where you input the URL you want to capture. Once the webpage has fully loaded, ShareX is then able to take a screenshot of the displayed content.

Text Capture

This is a unique feature I have not seen with other similar software. Basically, how this works is that you take a screenshot of some text (for instance text that you feel tedious to write and cannot be copied) and ShareX then uses Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is able to extract the text from the screenshot. You can then copy the resulting text to wherever you needed to use it.

Auto Capture

Auto capture requires you to pre-set a region to record together with the repeat time. You may choose to capture the whole screen for instance and set an interval time of 40 seconds. Even when you will not be around to monitor the process, ShareX will carry out the task as per the given instructions. When you come back, the output will be ready for you to use.

What Tools Are Available?

ShareX brings a lot of tools to play with. Some of these tools will do functions that are even beyond what is expected from a screen recording software. Below we look at some of these tools. Once you install ShareX, you will be able to explore the whole lot of them.

Image editor and effects – These tools will enable you to edit your screenshots and also add various effects to the same images to make them even better.

Image combiner – As the name suggests, ShareX will help much when you need to have more than one image to be put together as one single image.

Image and video thumbnailer – With this ShareX tool, you will be able to pre-set images that appear on the face of image or video icon even before you actually open the file.

Hash checker – This tool functions to check the integrity of files by detecting modifications or any kind of changes that alter how the file was initially. With this feature, ShareX will help you determine the originality of your videos and snapshots.

Extras

ShareX provides a file history management option in case you need to view previous files with just a click of a button. You also get a wide collection of platform destinations where you can share videos and screenshots. Better yet, you are provided with per-destination settings for ultimate control. In fact, ShareX supports more than 80 destinations including Imgur, Pastebin, Dropbox, bit.ly, Twitter among others.

ShareX may not be as superior as other similar functioning application but has a lot to offer when it comes to screen recording. It does have its own unique features not seen in other software. Does it fit in your profile of a preferred screencasting tool?